Many vehicle docking stations are available on the market. They are frequently employed to enable a mobile phone to be used in a manner that does not infringe the law in some countries, where it may be forbidden to hold a mobile phone in the hand and make telephone calls or use it for other applications. It is straightforward to design a station that is bespoke for a particular phone and many phone manufacturers do supply their own such stations. Equally there are a range of third party manufacturers who make docking stations. The stations they make fall into two categories: those designed for one or a particular range of phones; and those designed to be used by multiple different phones. In the case of the latter, there is inevitably a balance to be struck between a station that is difficult to operate, susceptible to damage, and not attractive; and one that simply does not fit many phones, even although it can be made robust, yet attractive and fit for purpose. The reason a station that fits many phones has the aforementioned disadvantages is because phones come in different shapes and sizes and need to be gripped in different planes to avoid clamping mechanisms from fouling or obstructing certain buttons or sockets that are located in different places around the phone. This means they need to have many capabilities and be very flexible to operate in different modes. That makes them generally susceptible to damage, and generally unattractive.
Docking stations usually have two kinds of base, a sucker or pad, for connection to a vehicle dashboard or windscreen, or a clip mechanism, for attachment to a ventilator grill. Many docking stations have the capacity to be switched between dash mounting and grill mounting. For example, the station may be supplied with the two kinds of mount either of which may be clipped or otherwise secured to the station.
Docking stations can have different functionalities. A most basic form simply grips and holds a phone that still has to be operated, either remotely through voice-activation, or by direct pushing of phone buttons. Another form at least has a charging port and is provided with means to connect to a vehicle electrical supply, for example, the cigar lighter port that most vehicles have. This still requires physical interaction by the user. More sophisticated docking stations have speakers and microphones and a connection for the phone whereby true hands-free voice-activation operation may be implemented. In these cases, the docking station requires a plug to engage the appropriate socket of the phone.
Nowadays, phones tend to fall in two camps: Apple Inc's iPhone® family of phones that has its own bespoke socket, and others that use a micro uUSB port connection. Any of a multiple variety of interfaces are possible and of course older phones are particularly variable. However, presently, phones tend to be gravitating to one of the two types of interface just mentioned.
These interfaces provide not only power interchange, useful for charging phone batteries, but also can be used for data exchange including voice control from the phone. However, most phones also provide Bluetooth® radio interconnectivity and therefore so also do some docking stations. However, a battery charging interface of a docking station is nevertheless still desirable, even if Bluetooth®, is used as the means of intercommunication.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a docking station, primarily but not exclusively for use in a vehicle, that can accommodate a wide range of phones, and yet is potentially robust and reliable.